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We recently came across a poignant e-mail written by a prominent young chef whose flashy cooking has earned him much praise, including ours. Judging by the note, which you can find after the jump, those plaudits weren't enough: The chef pleads with his friends to nominate him for a prestigious James Beard Foundation Award (the organization takes suggestions on their Website, as we explained last week). Prepare to cringe.

The hastily typed missive, edited for length, with identifying details removed:

"hey everybody, I need your help!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE vote for me for rising star chef! I will trully be indebted to you all. And if you really wanted to, fwd to all your friends and have them do the same thing. Accually please fwd this, it will help. Danny Meyer does it all the time.

This guy's talent is undeniable, and some of his dishes are startlingly good, but his kitchen, as several critics have noted, produces as many losers as the New York Marathon. We hope that next year he'll be earning those nominations, not begging for them. As for Danny Meyer, well, we've never seen an e-mail like this from him. But if we did, we're guessing he'd settle for one exclamation point.